A Moment in the Sun

The Balloonist(en)

Meet Brian Boland—the beloved, eccentric hot air balloonist and artist from the rural Upper Valley of Vermont.

The Captain(en)

Of Maine’s more than 5000 commercial lobstermen only 4% are female. The Captain celebrates that fearless minority through the lens of Sadie Samuels. At 27 years old, she is the youngest and only female lobster boat captain in the Rockport, Maine harbor. Despite the long hours and manual labor of hauling traps, Samuels is in love — obsessed even — with what she calls the most beautiful, magical place on the planet. Her love for lobster fishing was imparted early in her childhood by her dad Matt, who has been her mentor and inspiration since she was a little girl in yellow fishing boots.

In a Town This Size(en)

In A Town This Size introduces an Oklahoma town and its long-suppressed tragedy of childhood sexual abuse. The abuser, a prominent and trusted former pediatrician is, through this film and for the first time, held accountable for the actions he cleverly perpetrated. Stories are told through poignant first-person interviews with his victims, their families and professionals. This film brings to viewers an unnerving familiarity with the lifelong devastation resulting from this kind of abuse. Covering events in the 1960s and 1970s and continuing into present times, these personal stories devastate, frustrate and inspire. In A Town This Size moves audiences to confront child sexual abuse as a primary social issue and presses for changes in state statutes of limitation.

Spellbound(en)

This documentary follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C.

Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie(en)

Documentary about the making of ’Spring Break Zombie Massacre.’

Autobahn(de)

Traffic on the B61 road, which connects Rotterdam to Warsaw and cuts through the German spa town of Bad Oeynhausen, is permanently gridlocked. The promised cure is a bypass whose construction is documented for a period of eight years: the efforts of the mayor, police, fire brigade and construction companies, the delays in the construction of the northern bypass and above all the reactions of the affected residents.

Top Rider(en)

An in-depth look into the isolated sport of Motocross in the much more isolated island of Bermuda.

It's Tough to Be a Bird(en)

Part cartoon and part documentary, this film offers a humorous look at birds and the ways people perceive them.

The Pipe(en)

A compelling documentary film four years in the making, The Pipe tells the story of the small Rossport community which has taken on the might of Shell Oil and the Irish State. The discovery of gas off this remote coastal village has led to the most dramatic clash of cultures in modern Ireland. The rights of farmers over their fields, and of fishermen to their fishing grounds, has come in direct conflict with one of the world's most powerful oil companies. When the citizens look to their State to protect their rights, they find that the government has put Shell's right to lay a pipeline over their own.

Welcome to Leith(en)

In September 2012, the tiny prairie town of Leith, North Dakota, sees its population of 24 grow by one. As the new resident's behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and the residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor.

Vernon, Florida(en)

Early Errol Morris documentary intersplices random chatter he captured on film of the genuinely eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida. A few examples? The preacher giving a sermon on the definition of the word "Therefore," and the obsessive turkey hunter who speaks reverentially of the "gobblers" he likes to track down and kill.

Do Chile za zatměním Slunce(cs)

Shadow Chasers(fr)

This feature-length documentary is a portrait of eclipse chasers, people for whom solar eclipses - among nature's more spectacular phenomena – are a veritable obsession. The film follows 4 of them as they travel incredible distances to witness the last total eclipse of the millennium as it sweeps eastward across Europe to India. At various points along the way enthusiasts Alain Cirou in France, Paul Houde in Austria, Olivier Staiger in Germany and Debasis Sarkar in India offer their impressions of the historic event.

Tomato Republic(en)

A flamboyant restaurateur, a good ol' boy and a political ingénue, walk into a small town political contest and compete head to head to head, for the non-paid mayoral seat of the Tomato Republic. What happens next is anyones guess. The only thing that could slow this race down is a freight train. Let the takeover begin. - Written by Whitney Graham Carter

Eclipse(fr)

During the solar eclipse of August 11, 1999, Chris Marker documents the French public looking up to the skies, with many of them wearing eclipse glasses.

National Parks Exploration Series: Acadia - The First National Park East of the Mississippi(en)

This documentary captures the beauty of Maine's Acadia National Park, as well as detailing the history of the location which happens to be the first area east of the Mississippi River to be declared a National Park.

Doidos de Pedra - O Paraíso Esquecido(pt)

From the 60's, the neighborhood of Pedra de Guaratiba, in Rio de Janeiro, was invaded by a varied artistic community.

Strada provinciale delle Anime(it)

The italian writer Gianni Celati travels through the Po delta, the same landscapes of his collection of stories "Verso la foce", on a blue bus, accompanied by friends and relatives. His friend, renowned photographer Luigi Ghirri, follows the group by car.

Knox Mine Disaster(en)

The catastrophic and avoidable coal mining disaster at the Knox Mine is recounted by the people who lived through the tragedy.

Prime Farmland(en)

This documentary film follows farmers and activists fighting together to stop the Indiana Enterprise Center, a mega-sized industrial park planned west of South Bend, Indiana